Suzanne Wilson, Amanda Morrison, Micaela Haslam, Heather Cairncross, Andrew Busher, Gerard O'Beirne

 

"Chalons is about two and half hours by bus, south-east of Paris.  We six set up camp at the back of the bus, where there were several tables so at least I could get some work done on the computer.

Just behind us was "sick-bay".  There was one curved leather bench round the back of the bus where one person could lie down, and today was Les's turn to be ill.  Once again, an irreplaceable member of Music for 18 - clarinet 1.  Les, along with Jim on vibes, gives all the big cues required by the whole ensemble - uh oh!  

We arrived at the hotel and Les went straight to bed.  The hotel staff at Hotel L'Angleterre couldn't have been kinder, though they didn't know what had hit them when our coach-load turned up and literally filled every room in the hotel in minutes.  Poor things were rushed off their feet.  The bedrooms had an interesting decor - extremely chintzy bed spreads, with non-matching chintzy walls, and a weird tinted-mirror-wall. Whatever floats your boat!

Chalons-en-Champagne

clockwise from left - Heather, Todd (violin), Brad (conductor), Lauren (Brad's girlfriend), Mandy, Suzanne

A few of us went out for lunch and sat out in the main square.  It was such a lovely day, it was hard to believe this was November.  On the way back to the hall, we heard loads of sirens going off and we could smell burning.  It was obviously something very close by.  I wondered why the firemen had left the sirens going when they had obviously reached the fire.  Then we realised that it was the firemen who were setting off fire crackers in the main square, presumably in front of the town hall.  It transpired that they were protesting about their wages.  The French do love a good strike!

Once again, we had a "Music Minus One" rehearsal.  It was just as well that we'd already had two concerts.  It meant that we only really needed to sort out the monitors and do a sound check.  At this stage, we could actually manage without Les.

Rehearsing Daniel Variations

Daniel Variations looked a bit sparse without the lovely grand pianos, but on tour you just have to make do with what can be provided.  So it was electric pianos for this performance.

Daniel Variations from the front

Meanwhile, Les managed to see a doctor who gave him some medication - one packet of pills to stop sickness, and another packet of pills to stop diarrhoea - which enabled him to get through the concert.  These magic pills became more and more valuable as the tour progressed!

Straight to bed after the concert, in preparation for a very long journey the next day..."

Micaela